BJP MPs protest against Rahul Gandhi's 'insulting' remarks on OBC-community

BJP MPs, mostly from Other Backward Classes, on Tuesday took out a march from Parliament complex to Vijay Chowk here protesting against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's comments on the 'Modi surname' and demanded his apology.

Gandhi was convicted by a Surat court last week in a criminal defamation case for his 'Modi surname' remark.

The ruling party's 'OBC Morcha' also announced a campaign between April 6, the party's foundation day, and April 14, B R Ambedkar's birth anniversary, against Gandhi's "insulting" remarks against the backward castes and to highlight the "historic" decisions of the Modi government for the community's welfare.

BJP workers will reach out to one crore households across one lakh villages in the country, Morcha president K Laxman told reporters here. BJP president J P Nadda will launch the campaign from Manesar in Haryana, he said.

He said from giving the constitutional status to the OBC Commission, which was "toothless" in the long rule of the Congress, to giving reservation to the community in educational institutions and filling up thousands of backlog vacancies in universities, the Modi government has taken many historic decisions to uplift the community.

These decisions will help boost their living standards, the senior BJP leader who is also a member of its parliamentary board said.

The OBCs will help Modi become prime minister for a third term after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, he asserted, adding that such an atmosphere in the BJP's favour has rattled the Congress, causing Rahul Gandhi to heap caste "insults" on the prime minister.

Last Thursday, Gandhi, a former Congress president, was sentenced to two years in jail by the court in Gujarat after he was held guilty of defamation over his 'Modi surname' remark.